Steven Bensinger, VMD, PhD
Principle Investigator Bensinger Laboratory Professor, MIMG Professor, MMP Director, UCLA Lipdiomics Lab
About
Dr. Bensinger runs one of the only labs in the world that can assess, in real time, how a cell's lipid manufacturing pipeline is performing. He has found that immune cells profoundly change their lipid consumption during infection, and that this change in lipid architecture is critical to the immune system's ability to protect individuals from infections. Key ongoing studies include defining how these profound chases in the lipid architecture control immunity, and if targeting lipid metabolism increases the functionality of the immune system to fight infections and eradicate cancer. Dr. Bensinger is the theme leader of the Immunology, Inflammation, Infection, and Transplant research theme at the David Geffen School of Medicine.
Education and Degree(s)
Dr. Bensinger received his veterinary medical degree and his doctoral degree in Immunology from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed a thesis on regulatory T-cell development and function in the laboratory of Dr. Laurence Turka, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Peter Tontonoz at UCLA, where he examined the impact of lipid metabolism on T-cell growth and survival. Dr. Bensinger has received several professional honors, including the Sontag Foundation Distinguished Scientist Award and the 2016 UCLA Life Sciences Excellence Award for Outstanding Research. In 2018, Dr. Bensinger received the Sherie and Donald Morrison Chair in Immunology. Dr. Bensinger’s interests outside the lab includes hiking, mountain biking, watching his kids play soccer, and baking.
Publications
- Sherie and Donald Morrison Endowed Chair in Immunology
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Complete List of Published Work in My Bibliography